Chrono part 2

 Chrono part 2









    When the hippy crash pad unravelled, Ed headed to Crow"s Nest Colby, Zeke and I managed to blunder into a luxury apartment on Veteran avenue near Ohio. The place was spacious and a great spot for hanging out with the fellas. Greg spent a good deal of 1973 smoking, joking and watching KCET on the overstuffed Value Village couches in this upstairs pad where boys rules were in effect. We were walking distance from the Westward Ho market where bad for you munchies were purchased in an apartment without a stove. Greg was attending Loyola so the apartment was an easy stopover where the peace, love and freedom reigned. There were also recreational drugs, Westwood streets life and nude neighbors but that is another story. I do believe the sweet digs on Veteran were Greg's favorites in that period of seeking romance and adventure. Sunday nights were get-togethers to watch  America or Masterpiece Theater I worked for the UCLA Fine Arts department that meant freebies and not a lot of money around between students and underpaid semi-hippies. Zeke was readying to graduate and take his first job in Engineering so he left our shining city on the hill. Sign of the times: the land our four unit apartment was on now houses 111 condos with about as much charm as an office building.  Reluctantly, I had to leave Veteran and found a not as grand place on Church lane. Greg heard the call of Frisco and took time out from our time-wasting to attend San Francisco State where many other tales were created. Cousin Kent was a frequent visitor to WLA and the magical land of psychedelia at this time. I may have not been a great neighbor to Mrs. Winkleman, the One Armed Bandit, Za Za and VaVa who were my cohabitators along with Susan Roberts who had a yen for Greg that was never realized. Church Lane lasted over 2 years and is a novel in itself but everything turned to shit as 1975 turned to 1976. I got fired, my first cat Cazar was killed by a car, my girlfriend Emily dumped me and I lost my apartment. What followed was 14 months of being a bum with just scraps of unemployment insurance that soon ran out. My Dad tried to rescue me, taking me into his business but a lack of guts and getting held up at gunpoint ended that feeble 4 month attempt. Only the largess of good pal Timo gave me a roof over my head back in South Gate once again. The period of Club Virginia began in deep depression but with two great gents keeping me from going under. Almost 30 years old, unemployed, living in the Gate and having zero prospects lead me to the public library just trying to pass the time. Meanwhile Greg spent most of his time learning his trade in Palm Springs and occasionally calling me to express his ire at the behavior of his boss and cousin Evan.  

To be continued



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